Neither Network...nor Wiki...but Shared Experience is all that matters!!

While many companies craft creative employee engagement and communication strategies to retain and nurture their top talent, EMC, the world's largest computer storage provider, received a gift (“The Working Mother Experience”) from their own actively engaged and committed employees. 

It started as an idea from one single person, Natalie Corridan Gregg, to make women feel more appreciated at EMC and was built into this wonderful traditional-media (printed book) based 250 page culture document (built through shared experiences); showcasing about 100 personal and professional stories of working mothers in EMC.
 

The document stands as a testimony to EMC’s commitment to its employees, speaks volumes about the quality of workforce, and serves as a vehicle to connect employees spread in 400 offices across the globe. All of this built by active participation of employees. It wasn’t a corporate marketing or HR initiative, but that of the employees, who collaborated to share the stories of their lives, the challenges they faced in making everything happen and above all share the fruit of success.  

Natalie Corridan Gregg, the founder of the book, did not goose participation with coercion or use a top-down approach (Groundswell, pp228), instead she encouraged evangelists to recommend and induce participation. One by one, stories began to pour in the pool, the word began to spread, and Gregg compiled the most magnificent gift for EMC.

Li & Bernoff in their book, Groundswell, repeatedly remind us that groundswell is all about relationships and not about technologies. EMC’s Working Mother’s Experience Book did not use a social network, or intranet or wiki to collaborate but they focused on listening, talking, and energizing participants to collaborate genuine and true stories that affected their lives. The stories uncover the underlying traits of a successful EMC’er demonstrating a sense of urgency, results-driven performance, integrity, innovative problem-solving, teamwork, and adaptability both at home and work.

The book was distributed to both internal and external audiences. The conversational nature of stories has resonated with working mothers across the board. It makes them feel empowered and connected with peers/colleagues across the globe. Customers, partners, professionals from other companies have bonded with the book as well, more so because it is a topic that affects an outfit of any size or shape.
 

Authors’ Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind in their blog post and latest book Talk Inc., describe how leaders at EMC “enhanced organizational inclusion by promoting conversational inclusion.”

What is your opinion about empowering employees to narrate their experiences? Please do share examples of any other organizations that you may have found.